Too Late for Me
by SilverMidnight52
Summary: Jack has a new pacient to take care of and he realizes it's going to be a little harder than normal. Can he find out what is wrong and help her? Suicidal themes.


This is not a completely happy story. It starts off sad, but it does go to happy. I own nothing at all. Enjoy!

* * *

"How's your newest patient doing?" Dr. Jack Gallagher asked Dr. Carl Belle calmly.

"Which patient are you talking about?" Carl asked closing a file.

"Adalyn Langston," Jack said crossing his arms, "How is she doing?"

"She's checking out," Carl said smirking, "Seems she doesn't need help at all."

"Didn't she try to kill herself?" Jack said confused, "You figured out why she tried to do it?"

"She claims she didn't do it," Carl said placing a pen in his coat pocket, "I can't help her if she doesn't want it."

"But she does need help, doesn't she?" Jake said getting slightly angry.

"Dr. Belle," a girl said walking up to the two men, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Adalyn," Carl said his smirk becoming wider.

"It's Lyn," she said sighing, "Is it possible for me to come back if I need to?"

"Only if you're actually going to agree to help," he said shrugging, "I can't help you unless you want help."

"I'm sorry," she said biting her lip roughly, "I was scared."

"Why don't you leave and come back when you aren't scared?" he said nodding in fake understanding, "Maybe you can waste more time."

"I'm not trying to waste your time," she said glaring, "I really think that I still need to stay here for a little while longer."

"Goodbye Adalyn," he said walking away.

"My blood is on your hands Dr. Belle," Adalyn said softly.

Jack stared at Adalyn as she shook her head and started to walk off. As he continued to watch her he saw her looking at a cop's gun. Before he could stop her she grabbed the gun and pushed the cop away.

When Jack saw this he moved quickly to Adalyn and pulled the gun away just as she fired it. The bullet hit the wall behind her head instead of her head. Jack was relieved that he was able to stop her death from happening.

"Why did you stop me?" Adalyn yelled hitting Jack in the chest, "I want to die. Please just let me die."

"Shh," Jack said as Adalyn started to cry and fell fully against his chest, "Everything will be okay."

"Please let me die," Adalyn said once more before falling into a deep sleep.

As Jack lifted Adalyn up Carl shook his head before walking way to his office. Chloe and Arturo looked at each other before following Jack to a room. They didn't know what to do, but they wanted to be there if Jack needed them.

Jack placed Adalyn on a bed and let out a sigh. He then sat down on a chair and ran a hand through his hair. Chloe smiled sadly to him and waited calmly for him to say something.

"I'm going to stay here," Jack said softly, "You can leave if you want."

"Do you want me to bring some coffee?" Chloe asked equally as soft.

"Thank you," Jack said smiling.

Chloe and Arturo nodded their head before leaving quietly. Jack let out another sigh and looked over at Adalyn trying to figure her out. She looked like she was in her teens so she should have had someone here with her.

Adalyn was wearing a black t-shirt and black and lime green trousers. On her forearms were fingerless gloves going all the way up to her elbow. Because of this Jack had a feeling that she was hiding a lot underneath the gloves.

"Dr. Gallagher," Carl said walking into the room, "I believe this is my patient."

"Not anymore," Jack said calmly, "I don't think you're fit to be her doctor."

"I've been treating her for two days," Carl said angrily.

"And the first thing she did when getting out of here was grab a cop's gun," Jack said standing up, "I'm going to be her doctor from now on. I don't want you near her again."

"I think that's up to her," Carl said smirking and nodding toward Adalyn.

Both Jack and Carl looked over at Adalyn who was staring at Carl with wide eyes. Jack held up his hands and took a step closer to the bed. Adalyn jumped off the bed and went into the corner.

"Adalyn," Jack said slowly, "It is okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Lyn," she said softly.

"Okay Lyn," he said taking another step towards her, "Do you want me to leave?"

"No," she said tears gathering in her eyes.

"Do you want Dr. Belle to leave?" he asked sparing a glance at Carl.

"Yes," she said nodding quickly.

"You heard her," he said staring at Lyn, "Get out of here."

Carl glared angrily at Jack before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Lyn jumped at the sound and tried to back further into the corner. Jack noticed this and stepped closer to the girl before sitting on the floor also.

"I'm Jack Gallagher," Jack said calmly, "What's your name?"

"Adalyn," she said in a whisper, "Lyn."

"Which do you like being called?" he asked watching her intently.

"Lyn," she said biting her lip, "Why?"

"Why what?" he asked slightly confused.

"Why did you stop me from shooting myself?" she asked looking into his eyes, "I just want to die. Why did you have to stop me?"

"You need help Lyn," he said smiling, "I thought I could help you."

"I don't think anyone can help me now," she said tears streaming down her face, "Anyway, you don't care. You're only here for the money."

"If that was true would I have stopped you?" he asked cocking an eyebrow, "And no one is too far gone. I can help you if you let me in."

When Lyn didn't answer back Jack placed his head on the wall and waited. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get any answers out of her until she wanted to talk. Until then he tried to think of answers that he needed answered.

"It wasn't hard, you know," Lyn said after a few minutes.

"What wasn't hard?" Jack asked though he knew the answer.

"Deciding to kill myself," she said staring at the wall, "Death isn't hard. Living is. That's why I don't get why people are afraid of death."

"Maybe it's because they don't understand it," he said calmly.

"What's there to understand?" she asked confused, "You die. Everyone else is better off."

"Why do you think people are better off if someone is dead?" he asked turning fully towards her.

"Because I can't hurt people if I'm dead," she said tiredly, "Everyone would be better off if they never knew me. It's not like they care about me. No one cares about me anymore."

"Why do you say that?" he asked crossing his arms.

"The only person that cared was my little sister," she said tears filling her eyes once more, "And now that she's dead no one cares."

"What about your parents?" he asked curiously.

"They died when I was three," she said sighing, "I don't even remember them."

"Where have you been living?" he asked softly.

"I started living in a home with my sister," she said the tears falling, "But she died when she went swimming with some kids. I couldn't stay there anymore. Not with what they were saying. So I left and now I stay at shelters around the city."

"What were the people at the home saying?" he asked trying to keep her from shutting down.

"That it was my fault," she said rocking back and forth slowly, "That my sister is dead because of me, that I should be the one dead instead of her. They're right. I should be dead. I just haven't been trying hard enough. I need to get a better plan."

"What if you're plan didn't work because it's not your time to die?" he said standing up.

"No," she said shaking her head, "I should have died years ago. This is my punishment for killing my sister."

"Were you there when your sister died?" he said leaning against the wall.

"No," she said wiping the tears away, "I was sick. I had to stay in bed."

"How could you have stopped it then if you weren't there?" he asked leaning down.

"I could have…I don't know," she said looking up at him, "But I could have done something. I should have died that day, not her. She was only two!"

Lyn then looked back down and started to ram her head roughly into the wall. Jack's eyes widened and he rushed forward to pull her away from the wall. Once Lyn started to fight back he called for help.

When they finally had Lyn strapped to the bed he had everyone else leave the room. He realized he was making a lot of progress with Lyn, but he still didn't have her trust.

"Jack," Nora said quietly, "We need to talk."

"I agree," Jack said nodding and leaving the room, "I want Carl's license. He hurt that girl more then he helped."

"Funny," she said sighing, "That's what he said about you."

"Lyn is opening up to me," he said calmly, "I've found one of the reasons she's hurting herself, but I know there's more. How am I hurting her?"

"I don't know," she said shaking her head, "But he's trying to bring charges against you."

"I'll figure this out when Lyn is okay," he said running a hand through his hair, "Until then can you keep him away from her?"

"I can," she said nodding, "Good luck."

"Thanks," he said heading back to Lyn's room.

"Here you go Jack," Chloe said handing him coffee, "Why aren't you with Adalyn?"

"She had a little episode and we had to tie her to the bed and drug her," Jack said taking a sip of coffee, "I'm hoping that the drugs will wear off soon and we can start talking again."

"The drugs take about an hour or two to wear off," she said shrugging, "Maybe you should get something to eat first."

"You're right," he said smiling, "I'll go see Lyn after I eat. Good-bye."

Jack walked down to the cafeteria and ordered a sandwich. He sat down at a table before taking a deep breath and standing up. After standing up he made his way back to Lyn's room.

"Hello Lyn," Jack said walking in.

"Why am I strapped to the bed?" Lyn asked softly.

"Because you tried to bash your head into a wall," he said sitting down, "Want some?"

"I'm not hungry," she said looking away.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I don't know," she said shrugging, "Two or three days ago."

"But you're not hungry," he said nodding, "That makes perfect sense. I'm not hungry after not eating for days either."

"I'm not anorexic," she said quickly, "I just don't eat a lot anymore."

"Why don't you eat a lot?" he asked taking a drink of coffee.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said looking away.

"Okay," he said shrugging, "You sure you don't want any?"

"I'm not sure of anything," she said biting her lips.

"How about I make the decision for you then?" he said smiling, "Have a few bites."

"How am I supposed to eat if I'm strapped down?" she asked shaking her wrists slightly.

"You're right," he said placing the food down, "If I let you out will you bang your head into the wall again?"

"No," she said sighing, "I won't."

"Good," he said undoing the straps.

"Thanks," she said taking the food Jack was handing her.

"What's with the gloves?" he said finishing his sandwich.

"Nothing," she said taking a small bite of the sandwich.

"Then why are you wearing them?" he asked leaning back in the chair.

"No reason," she said staring at the sandwich.

"Take them off," he said crossing his arms.

"No," she said her eyes wide.

"If there isn't a reason for wearing them why are you freaking out about taking them off?" he asked curiously.

"I…I don't want…Nothing," she said putting the food down, "It's nothing."

"Lyn," he said standing next to the bed, "Take them off. You have nothing to hide here. No one else is going to know but me."

"Are…Are you sure?" she said looking into his eyes.

"Yes," he said nodding, "I'm the only person that will know. Can you take them off for me?"

"Yeah," she said moving her shaking hand to the top of the glove.

Lyn took a deep breath and started to pull down the gloves before stopping, standing up, and going over to the corner and facing it. Jack watched as Lyn slowly pulled the gloves off, but kept her arms hidden.

When they were fully off and on the ground Jack waited for her to turn around. After a few moments Jack walked over to Lyn and turned her around. Lyn kept her arms crossed and close to her body.

"I'm going to look at your wrists, okay?" Jack said slowly.

Lyn bit her lip once more before nodded her head. Jack gently turned over her arms and swallowed the gasp that wanted to come out. Lyn's wrists were covered in cuts that were very deep. Some looked like they were bleeding again from the gloves coming off.

"How long have you been doing this?" Jack asked trying to cover his shock.

"Four years," Lyn said looking at her feet, "It wasn't until a week ago that I decided to kill myself though."

"You said it was easy to decide to kill yourself," he said leading her to the bed, "Why are you here if it's so easy?"

"I…Someone found me," she said sitting down.

"Can you tell me where you were?" he said sitting next to her.

"I was sitting in a park," she said pulling her knees to her chest, "My mom took me there before she died. I had a knife with me and I started to slash my wrists. There was so much blood. I could barely see where a clean piece of skin was. After awhile I felt sick. I fell off the bench I was sitting on. A group of guys walked past me. I guess one of them noticed because all of a sudden they were surrounding me and one was calling the hospital. I tried to tell them to leave me alone, but I was so weak. I just wanted to end it."

"It's good that they found you," he said nodding.

"Did they change the meaning of good and not tell me?" she said sarcastically.

"No," he said chuckling softly, "But I think it was a good thing you aren't dead because now I can help you get over this."

"Why do you care about me?" she asked shaking her head, "I'm just a psycho freak."

"I care because I want to help you," he said softly, "I don't want to find out that you killed yourself when you haven't even had a chance to live."

"I've lived a lot more then you think," she said scoffing.

"Okay," he said standing up, "How old are you anyway?"

"Twelve," she said crossing her arms, "Oww."

"Don't do that," he said grabbing her arms gently, "You made them bleed again."

"Good," she said trying to pull away, "Just let me die."

"Stop it Lyn," Jack said trying to calm her down.

"Please," she said tears running down her face, "I just want to forget."

"What do you want to forget?" he asked motioning for the guys that walked in to stay back.

"Him," she said her body starting to shake, "I want to forget him."

"Who is he?" he said rubbing her arms, "What did he do?"

"He said he ran a shelter and offered me a ride," she said shakily, "He drove me to this house and when I walked inside no one was there. I knew I had been set up when that happened. I freaked out tried to run out, but he came up behind me and rammed me into the wall. He drugged me and when I woke I was laying on a cot naked. I was bleeding…down there…and no one was around so I got dressed and walked out of the house, through the kitchen. I grabbed a knife on the way out, and then headed for the park."

"You didn't go to a doctor about the rape then?" he asked cautiously.

"No," she said quickly.

"Let's go now then," he said motioning for her to follow him, "You need to get checked out."

"I don't want to know if I got anything," she said hiding her head in her hands.

"I know," he said touching her arm gently, "But you need to know. Come on."

Adalyn nodded slightly and got off the bed. Jack waited for her to walk next to him before walking with her to the doctors. He watched as she walked to the doctor and waited for her to say anything.

"I…I don't want to die," Adalyn said so softly that Jack almost missed it, "I just want to get these images out of my mind."

"After we get you checked out we can talk more about it," Jack said smiling slightly, "I'll help you figure this out."

"I still don't get why you care," she said as a doctor walked up.

"Hello Dr. Gallagher," a woman said walking up to them, "Hello, I'm Dr. Mellissa Cameron. What's your name?"

"Adalyn Langston," Adalyn said shyly.

"Dr. Cameron," Jack said moving the attention back to him, "I need you to do a few tests on Lyn."

"What kind of tests?" Dr. Cameron asked seriously.

"For STDs and pregnancy," he said keeping his voice down.

"Okay," she said nodding, "Adalyn, why don't you come with me and we'll get you changed into something and we can start those tests."

"Yeah," Adalyn said swallowing hard.

"I'll be right here after you change," Jack said trying to comfort her.

Adalyn nodded and followed Dr. Cameron so she could change. A few minutes later Adalyn came back and sat down on one of the beds and waited. Dr. Cameron motioned for Jack to come with her.

"What is it?" Jack asked confused.

"Some of the cuts on Adalyn's wrists and forearms need to be stitched up and cleaned properly before they get infected," she said sadly, "Whoever was supposed to take care of this girl when she came here did a horrible job at it."

"I'm working on that part of this," he said with a nod, "Take care of Lyn for now."

"Okay," she said walking to Adalyn and closing the curtain around them.

Jack waited awhile for the tests to be completed. Half an hour later Dr. Cameron opened the curtains and nodded for him to come over. Jack quickly walked over and stood next to Adalyn.

Adalyn took a deep breath and sat up. Dr. Cameron handed her the clothes back and then took the swabs she was holding away. Adalyn slipped the clothes on under her hospital gown and looked up at Jack.

"Come on," Jack said offering her a hand, "Let's go back to your room."

"Sure," Adalyn said taking the hand cautiously.

"You said you don't want to die," he said as they walked to the room, "That's a good thing."

"How is that good?" she asked with a sigh.

"Because now I know I can help you," he said smiling, "I just need to know a few more things."

"Like what?" she asked walking into her room.

"I need to know if you want my help," he said closing the door.

"I don't know," she said sitting on her bed, "I don't want to die, but I don't know if I want to live either."

"It's a start," he said calmly, "At least you know you don't want to die."

"I know that life isn't fair and we have to work for what we want, but it isn't supposed to be this hard," she said tears streaming down her face.

"You need help Lyn," he said kneeling in front of her, "And I can help you, but you need to be willing to take the help I give you. Do you want help?"

"I…Yes," she said biting her lip roughly, "I want help."

"Good," he said smiling, "Now the real work begins."

"Like this wasn't hard enough," she said falling back on the bed.

"This time you're not doing it alone," he said touching her arm, "The next thing we need to do is figure out why you started to cut. When did you start?"

"I was eight," she said taking a deep breath.

"What do you remember about the day you hurt yourself for the first time?" he asked sitting on the bed.

"I was sitting in a bed at one of the shelters I stayed at," she said running a hand through her hair, "I had stopped at the library before I got there so I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I didn't even know what book I grabbed, but as I read I noticed a recurring thing. The main character kept hurting himself. He explained how it was just to get away for the time and that he had to do it again and again and again to get the feeling. I know it was supposed to make me not want to do it, but all I saw was how it made him feel. He said he always felt numb, well I always feel numb too. I thought it would work the same for me."

"I didn't work out that way, did it?" he asked hoping it hadn't.

"No," she said shaking her head, "It was the only thing I felt, besides numbness in years."

"I loved the feeling," she said looking into his eyes, "Soon I was doing it every time I was alone. I did it when I woke up, when I went to the bathroom, when I took a shower, and before I went to sleep. For awhile everything was good."

"What changed that?" he asked curiously.

"It was never enough," she said in a whisper, "I always wanted more, but I could never get it."

"That's the problem with hurting yourself," he said sadly, "It will never be enough."

"If it will never be enough how am I supposed to stop it?" she asked confused.

"Well, first we're going to talk about it," he said sighing, "Then, if I see fit, we're going to see if you need to be on any medication."

"I'm scared," she said biting her lip.

"We'll figure it out together," he said hugging her slightly, "We'll figure it out."


End file.
